What's new at the Louisiana Restaurant Association 61st annual Foodservice & Hospitality Expo? Keep walking the aisles and asking that question, and you'll get a lot of answers. The show at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center closed Monday afternoon.

Although the show is crammed with foodservice-focused companies that sell vests and bow ties for waiters, flooring, insurance, grease solutions, trash removal and pre-made desserts, among hundreds of other things, we focused on Louisiana companies, and mostly ones that deal with food.

Like Tabasco. Their new gallon-size pumps, which are for the end of buffet lines, dot out 1/8 of an ounce per push on the handle.

Rex Fine Foods, a spice company founded in 1888, was bought two years ago by Hatch Chile Co., but it's still based in New Orleans. Their five new 8-ounce mustards are Mardi Gras (with horseradish); Dijon; Ragin' Cajun, which is grainy Creole mustard; Chow Chow, which is a mustardy relish; and Sauce Remoulade. Suggested retail is $2.79-$2.89, said regional sales manager Ellis Naro.

Slap Ya Mama, the line of seasoning mixes based in Ville Platte and owned by the Walker family (no relation) has a new bloody Mary mixer and three new hot sauces that should be out soon, Jack Walker said.

Those Nuts! is less than a year old, founder Melody Pate said as she handed out samples of scrumptious glazed pecans. Pate is in Holden, between Hammond and Baton Rouge.

"Wild catfish is moving really well," said Harlon Pearce of Harlon's Louisiana Fish and Seafood in Kenner. "And pompano just started. Farm-raised catfish has been in tight supply, with high prices. We're going to (sell) over a million pounds (of wild) this year. It gives our guys another fish to fish for. We're waking up the wild catfish."

At Hola Nola, the Gonzales tortilla factory that was three days old at last year's LRA Expo, business has been great. They're now in 100 stores and about 60 restaurants, founder Kevin Holder said. "We had planned to stay in Baton Rouge and part of New Orleans, but we've grown so much we're serving Lafayette, Houma, the north shore" and elsewhere. "I have been shocked at how much people support a local product."

By the new year, they will have tortilla chips cooked in coconut oil, which Holder compared to Zapp's kettle-cooked chips. Already on some shelves are their fajita and taco seasoning mixes, in 4-ounce resealable bags. Everything the company sells is $2.49.

Lighthouse Louisiana had a booth for their unprinted and custom printed paper cups, with a "buy local" slogan. They noted that purchases of the cups provides employment for people with vision impairment at Lighthouse for the Blind.

Swamp Pop, the less-than-a-year-old craft soda company based in Lafayette, made its Expo debut and were doing "very well," said John Peterson, co-founder with Collin Cormier. They were handing out samples of their four flavors, and during the year did a Ponchatoula Pop Rouge seasonal strawberry flavor for Rouse's, Peterson said. They are all about local flavors and cane syrup, such as Satsuma Fizz. A four-pack is approximately $5.50 at retail.

And more citrus! Last week, Bayou Rum of Lacaisse rolled out their new Satsuma Rum Liqueur, in a frosted bottle. The company also just started factory tours, which can be signed up for online.

Brown's Dairy has a new protein drink, TruMoo, in lowfat milk and chocolate milk flavors with 25 grams protein and 32 grams sugar. Aimed at the sports and work-out market, it's just now in a few stores, said sales rep Kim Castille, for about $1.89 per 14-ounce bottle.

Monica Davidson herself was in the Kajun Kettle Foods booth, helping hand out samples of several new boil-in-a-bag restaurant products (including a white chocolate bread pudding I wanted to bathe in) and introducing new research and development chef Mitch Grittman. Their signature product, Crawfish Monica, has a new 46-ounce retail package, $17.99.

Indonesia and its foods were represented at the LRA show for the first time, part of a trade mission to this part of the U.S. "We usually go to the West and East coasts," said Arief Wibisono, assistant to the commercial Attache at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.

Among their products were chocolates, nougat, Indo Mie instant noodles and more. Anoa, which sells Indonesian sambal and bambu sauces made in Washington D.C., was part of the delegation, as was Kebab Turki, which says on their website it is the world's largest kebab chain.

Kebab Turki has 1,200 locations in seven countries, but none in the US, explained LSU student Bowen McCulloch, who was working for Kebab. "One reason at this show is we're trying to find someone to help us with our franchises."

Cucumbers are hot with local chefs right now, said Anna Luwisch of Louisiana Fresh Produce.

"We've been having lots of customers order Kirby cucumbers and making their own pickles, just tons of orders," she said. "I think people just have a healthier approach. They want it fresh."

And they want it cold.

Chill-Rite Systems is a company based in Slidell with customers nationwide, focusing on dispensing keg beer at 32 degrees. Their eye-catching frosted vodka display, called Shock-A-Vodka, keeps inverted liquor at 5 degrees. Brothers Cole and Hunter Abraham, whose father founded the company, worked the booth.

"We specialize in high volume accounts," Cole said. "We're all over Las Vegas, football stadiums, Disney World, like that." They invented the frost rail, the brothers said, which is a cold, icy strip custom-recessed into a bar top.

Chef supply company Kelley & Abide, located near Louisiana Fresh Produce in New Orleans, identified two trends. One is a much bigger selection of clothing tailored for women chefs, who used to have to wear men's pants, said Richard Abide.

"We're also selling to a lot of bed and breakfasts," said sales rep Mona Mussen. "We've added linens. And they do a lot of weddings and events now, so we have a line of table skirtings."